China

Sinovel 5MW offshore prototype ready by end-2010

CHINA: Sinovel showcased its 5MW offshore wind turbines at the 2010 Shanghai International Offshore Wind Power Conference and Exhibition.

Up for expansion: Shanghai East Sea Bridge Wind Farm

According to a senior executive of Sinovel, refusing to be identified, Sinovel has completed designing and purchasing components for the 5MW offshore wind turbines. A sample turbine will be produced towards the end of the year.

The 5MW pitch-regulated, variable-speed, double-feed turbines, of the SL5000 series, are independently developed by Sinovel.

They incorporate technology developed for the company’s 3MW turbines and tested in the Shanghai East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm. The 34 3MW Sinovel turbines of the Shanghai offshore wind farm were connected to the local power grid on June 8 this year.

Sinovel is speeding up the construction its 5MW offshore wind turbine plant in Yancheng, east China’s Jiangsu Province. The building process kicked off in January this year.

Industry officials expect that the 5MW Sinovel turbines will be used in the second phase of the Shanghai East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm.

"Our 5MW turbine plant, with a total investment of CHY1.5 billion, will be completed and go into operation at the end of this year," said Chen Danghui, technical manager of Sinovel.

Sinovel, established in 2006, has climbed to be the third largest turbine producer in the world in 2009, occupying 9.2 percent of the global market share, according to Danish industry consultancy BTM.

"At present, China has used existing designs to produce 1.5MW turbines. It needs to elevate the main turbines to 3MW for land-based wind farms and 5MW for offshore wind farms. It must make early preparations to develop 10MW turbines."

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